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Fear Itself

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At some point during the Second World War, the Red Skullenacted an arcane ritual under the orders of Adolf Hitler, causing a mysterious artifact to fall from the heavens and crash land in Antarctica. Upon locating the artifact—a large hammer, supposedly tied to the Norse goddess Skadi—and learning that he is incapable of lifting it, the Skull has the Thule Society seal it away in a fortress and guard it with their lives. Fast forward to the present day, where his daughter Sin, believing the hammer to be her inheritance, comes to collect; and after killing the guards and getting her hands on the hammer, she proves capable of lifting it. Of course, as with any mystical weapon there is a catch to wielding it, and this hammer is no exception; for, as the runic inscription on its shaft states,

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"And he who shall be worthy shall wield the power of Skadi."

As such, much like Donald Blake before her, Sin is transformed into the powerful Asgardian, Skadi. With the awesome power conferred by the hammer, Skadi sets out at the head of a large Nazi force to lead a blitzkrieg on the United States... but not before stopping off by the prison of a mysterious deity known only as the Serpent and busting him out, first. Setting the stage for a series of other hammers to fall all over the world with each its "Worthy" gaining awesome power and the order to spread fear around the globe.

Several issues of the Fear Itself: Homefront mini series aside from the Speedball main story, featured one off stories featuring various less popular to out and out brand new characters reacting to the various problems and hysteria caused by the Serpent.

Adult Fear: Ultimately, everything Odin did was a crazed, futile attempt to save his son from dying.

Also invoked when Skirn and Greithoth invade the Infinite Mansion to strike at the Avengers Academy alumni: since Absorbing Man's hatred for Hank Pym was too big for Greithoth to override, Skirn suggested they attacked the students for whom Pym voiced concern earlier.

A God Am I: The Serpent is a god of fear, but at some point when he regains his full strength he starts referring to himself as theGod.

Anti-Hero: kid!Loki, somewhere between type 2 and 3. He's got a comparatively good cause (apparently he has to make something bad happen to prevent something even worse from happening instead) and even asked Thor's advice (while being very vague) to make sure he doesn't do the wrong thing. However, he's made deals with Mephisto and Surtur and really only seems to want to stop The Serpent so it won't kill Thor, with the rest of Earth just being a bonus.

That deal with Surtur? Loki agreed to work to bring him into Asgard to feed on its core to escape his imprisonment. He got out of it by bringing him into the Serpent's Dark Asgard, but due to everything now Surtur is still free.

Betrayal by Inaction: At the end of Youth in Revolt, Thor Girl, having transformed into an Energy Being, returns to her home galaxy after growing disgusted with humanity's inability to work together and deciding that Earth doesn't deserve her protection.

Biblical Bad Guy: Uniquely for this trope in the Ghost Rider tie-in it's Adam. He had became obsessed with undoing his mistake of original sin by training people from infancy to host the Ghost Rider, so he could use their power to burn sin out of humanity. This has the effect of essentially lobotomizing people, leaving them incapable of anything greater than basic survival.

Bigger Bad: As revealed during Fear Itself, the Marvel Universe's real Satan. The other demon lords hold meetings around his throne sometimes, but it's stated that all of them, including, apparently, cosmically-powered ones like Shuma-Gorath and the aforementioned Dormammu, are terrified of even trying to sit on it. He's been gone from this plane of existence so long that even among the demons themselves it's a common belief that he doesn't actually exist.

Breakout Character: Kid Loki. Critics and fans praised Journey into Mystery as Marvel's best book in a long time and Kid Loki as a fresh take on the character that is still true to who he is.

Defacement Insult: The community of Bleachville, which was long rife with racial tensions between its majority-white population and a neighboring reservation, experienced a rash of vandalism warning that the "Red Nation will rise again". The vandalism was later revealed to have been carried out by a bunch of white racists hoping to start a riot to wipe out the reservation's inhabitants.

Demonic Possession: Those chosen to wield the Hammers of the Worthy find their personalities overwritten or at least subsumed by the deity to whom their respective hammer belongs. Because of this, the villains of this piece are a mixture of actual bad guys like Sin (Skadi), Attuma (Nerkkod), the Juggernaut (Kuurth), and the Grey Gargoyle (Mokk), and heroic or antiheroic characters whose bodies have been taken over by the evil spirits within these hammers, like Incredible Hulk (Nul) and the Thing (Angrir).

The prologue story in The Mighty Thor #7 hints that Cul is possessed, and that the Serpent may be another entity.

The Dreaded: The Serpent once again; while much about this elusive deity remains uncertain, the fact remains that he has Odin scared shitless of him, to the point where the Allfather is willing to raze the entire planet Earth just to destroy the Serpent.

Which is pretty hilarious if you know that Skadi is the goddess of skiing in the source mythology.

In fact, the only person in the MU not seemingly in on the mass panic attack is Loki, who is a kid at the moment (and actually has a plan... whatever it is).

If is the first one: Odin has faced down far stronger opponents than the Serpent in the past without even a shudder, and has undergone a degree of Badass Decay in regards to just how powerful he really should be (in the past it's been demonstrated he can destroy entire galaxies). The Serpent is powerful, but it doesn't even come close to matching the power of, say, DreadDormammu, or the various other things he has succesfully defeated before.

It's implied that Odin is freaking out so badly due to the prophecy of Thor dying in combat with the Serpent. Since about 95% of the Norse mythology (even in Marvel) is You Can't Fight Fate, he's somewhat understandably panicked; not over the fact that he can't stop the Serpent, but that he won't be able to before the inevitable happens. Loki figured out a loophole to at least give it a Bittersweet Ending. Not to mention the fact that, if the Serpent's Evil Twin claims are truthful, it might not be a case of having more power, just the right type.

The Serpent summoned something over NYC called "Dark Asgard" that is a mirror image of Asgard that he plans to use to strike at the real one. Kid!Loki apparently has a plan for dealing with it, that like all his other deals has so far falled under the Unspoken Plan Guarantee

Fountain of Youth: The Serpent turns from a crooked white-haired old man into a visibly younger black-haired man when his power returns to him.

Full Set Bonus: Post event Sin reveals that she learned from Skadi how to use all the hammers strapped together as a flail to power a doomsday weapon similar to the Destroyer with which she could destroy the world.

God's Hands Are Tied: While Odin made plans to raze the planet to stop The Serpent, other gods such as the Olympians argued to defend humanity due to them currently residing on Earth, but were prevented from providing aid due to pact of domain non-interference among the godheads that deemed the whole event as an internal Asgardian affair, rendering any other gods who chose to get involved punishable by all the pantheons if the pact was violated.

Gone Horribly Wrong: In the X-Men vs. Juggernaut fight, they deploy Adam X, and he sets the Juggernaut's blood on fire. This has the effect of turning him into a raging psychopath... who sets everything he touches on fire.

Gotta Catch 'Em All: Post event there is now conflict between multiple parties over collecting the hammers. The heroic community wants to lock them away, Sin wants them for an Evil Plan she learned while possessed by Skadi and Valkyrie wants to banish them permanently with a Heroic Sacrifice only she can perform.

Heroic Sacrifice: Hardball SEEMS to make one using his powers to the max to try to save people in Vegas. It didn't stick.

Hope Spot: The Battle of St. John's Newfoundland. Speedball arrives to fight off Nerkkod and sends him flying by redirecting his own hammer back at him, seemingly defeating him. As Speedball limps away still thinking of possibly aiding others, Nerkkod returns, lays into Speedball and summons a tidal wave to drown the thousands of people in the area.

Red She-Hulk's also vaguely trying this on Hulk, while mainly trying to get people out of his way.

She tries it again in Hulks vs Dracula #3, This time it works and Hulk breaks free from the hammer's control and destroys it.

Of course, that wasn't actually Betty/Red She-Hulk, but a vampire mesmerizing Hulk so that he saw her as Betty.

Identical Grandson: Not a blood relation, exactly, but the glimpse of the original Worthy in one of the tie-ins reveals that they look very much like the present-day characters they possess during the event.

Late-Arrival Spoiler: More like Spoiler-given-mid-event. In their promos for November's "Shattered Heroes" Marvel unveiled the replacement for Thor as well as a cover that seems to show the original dead. The bets on how long that'll last are short and really short.

Also purposefully avoided in Journey Into Mystery. In order for Loki's plan to presumably not be revealed until it affects the main book, Mephisto gets two spotlight issues where he is indulging an old rumor about the devil and going to a bar to see how long the barkeeper can last while he tells him exactly what he thinks about the whole Fear Itself mess going on, especially involving Loki.

Mind Rape: Inverted: Veil tries to neutralize Skirn by possessing her like her future self had done to Korvac before, but it's Veil who gets mindraped with the horrors within Skirn's mind.

Never Say "Die": A subversion of this happens when one of the Avengers Academy students asks Falcon about Bucky Cap being stabbed, he initially lies to them saying that it was critical and they are trying to save him, until realizing he is treating young heroes that just fought a hellish battle like children and told them the truth that he is dead.

One-Winged Angel/Scaled Up: The Serpent transforms into a gigantic dragon during the final battle against Thor. Fitting enough with a name like this.

Pay Evil unto Evil: The point of the Hulk vs Dracula mini is to have Hulk not cross into Moral Dissonance by having his near unstoppable evil side rampage on a nation of vampires instead of normal people rather during the second half of the event. On the other hand, Gischler's said that he wants to show Dracula and the vampires as being sympathetic against the unstoppable force that is Nul, Breaker of Worlds, without forgetting that they are, in fact, vampires.

Person of Mass Destruction: Each one of the Worthy is one of these. Up to Eleven when members include the likes of Juggernaut, the Hulk, and the Thing who have their powers boosted even further. Even singular members like Attuma were described to have the power to destroy the planet.

Poke in the Third Eye: Happens to anyone who tries to read/possess one of the Worthy. The Avengers Academy tie-in has Veil trying to possess Skirn, only to be flooded by visions of hundreds of people crucified to Yggdrasil. When the X-Men finally get Juggernaut's helmet off, Emma Frost doesn't have a fun time when she tries to mind control him.

Pragmatic Villainy: MODOK and Zero/One, who has been hunting the Red Hulk, decides that it's far more important to fight the Nazis that are causing havoc

Precision A Strike: Thor gets one during his fight with Nul and Angrir, after having Mjolnir run through Angrir.

Though eventually subverted in Issue 7.1, where it was revealed that he survived the beating given to him by Sin/Skadi and had his death faked by Black Widow and Nick Fury to convince Steve Rogers to become Captain Americaagain, as well as give him the leeway he needed to attend to his own problems.

Sequel Hook: One shows up at the end when it is revealed that Nul somehow separated from Hulk and Bruce Banner, and is poised to be at the heart of the first story arc of Matt Fraction's new run on The Defenders.

Series Continuity Error: Fear Itself is full of these mostly written by the same writer. Odin has always been portrayed as the god with a plan for anything to save everyone and willing to sacrifice himself for the good of all. Yet a last resort plan is his only plan. Odin is depicted as defeating the Serpent only after a massive war the first time around. The prequel Fraction wrote depicted Odin defeating the Serpent with ease. Odin mourns the death of Thor, but previously Fraction wrote Thor resurrecting Odin with ease which is a power that has always alluded Thor and Odin in the past and ask why Odin didn't resurrect Thor. The Serpent displays vast strength and mystical powers such as shattering Captain America's shield, but forgets these to turn into a giant snake that is easily cut up by Thor.

Additionally, the history of the Serpent given in the series and a number of other events, such as the portrayal of their father Bor's death and Odin's sacrifice of his eye, are irreconcilable with past portrayals. For that matter, it's been very well established that the Midgard Serpent is the "Serpent" in the prophecy the story is built around. Nor is the idea that Earth was once the Serpent's domain in keeping with every other depiction of the history of Marvel's Earth. (Unless, as suggested in the Thor title's tie-in, the Serpent was possessing Cul rather than simply being Cul.)

Shoot the Hostage: Hardball in order to get Juggernaut out of Las Vegas tries to blow him away with his powers. Juggernaut comes across some homeless people that didn't evacuate with most of the rest of the city to the designated areas. His team gets most out while holding Juggernaut back, but one group refuses to leave even with Hardball's team unsuccessfully battling Juggernaut right in front of them. So Hardball orders a evacuation of his team and uses his powers to blow Juggernaut out of the city limits, injuring himself but apparently killing those that didn't evacuate when his team tried to get them out.

Simple Staff: The Serpent starts out holding a gnarled walking stick. As he gains power, it's upgraded to a very intimidating hammer...

Sinister Scythe: ... with a scythe on the other side. He tends to use the hammer part a lot more than the scythe part, though.

Spanner in the Works: Loki's resurrection is, depending on the source, either the reason The Serpent is back, the key to the only way to defeat The Serpent, or both. Either way, by bringing him back, Thor very possibly caused this crossover.

Took a Level in Badass: Juggernaut, big time. He was by far the most powerful Worthy of them allnote Though Skadi explicitly claimed that Nul and Angrir were the strongest of the Worthy, they fared worse against Thor than Kurrth did against the X-Men.. Just to elaborate: As his name and history says, he was nigh-unstoppable even before being chosen by the Serpent. As Kuurth, he lost all of his old (already few) weaknesses, he couldn't be teleported awaynote Which Nul was vulnerable to., he couldn't be attacked from the inside, he was literally able to walk through air, he shrugged off telepathic assault and of course completely ignored physical assault. Even when his Juggernaut-powers were transferred to Colossus, he still overpowered the guy and only narrowly lost due to his own former power, aka Unstoppable Momentum. In short, an already unstoppable force was made even more unstoppable.

The Worf Effect: Sadly, at the end of the event, he got was dealt with by Wolverine in an unspectacular manner, just to show how powerful Odin's upgrades were.

Unspoken Plan Guarantee: We have yet to be told what Loki's plan for defeating the Serpent is (outside of the fact that he seems to be the only person with a plan at all and that it's a brains-over-brawn plan). Since we have no clue, it is therefore likely to succeed, according to this trope. And the fact that Loki is a reincarnated Magnificent Bastard.

Now Iron Man has a plan too, and we're not quite sure what. Odin's plan is stated-destroy Earth entirely and the Serpent with it.

Villains Out Shopping: Grey Gargoyle's prologue tie-in has him walking around Paris, drinking coffee from a local cafe, and lamenting on his Villain Decay, wondering where his life will go from there before he stumbles onto one of the hammers...

What the Hell, Hero?: Amadeus, Thunderstrike, X-23, Araña and Power Man find themselves teleported onto a flying ship with no idea how or why. Most of them are worried about being away from their families as this crisis goes on. Eventually they figure out Amadeus brought them there to function as a team that's very effective by his calculations. They call him out on it and, after averting the crisis, X-23 delivers a Groin Attack to him for his troubles.

Wild Card: Juggernaut explains that this is how he sees himself; he's not hero and he's not a villain. He works for whoever's offering him a spot on the team for however long that lasts (and it never lasts long) and then he moves on.

Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: Gravity, he got so pissed at Hardball actions in Vegas that he flies half way across the country to try to beat him up, only for their fight to accidentally set off a earthquake.

Nul is shaping up this way too in the aftermath/Defenders series tie-in. Just existing in this world causes him unbearable pain.

The Worf Effect: Red Hulk getting his butt handed to him by a possessed Thing.

The Serpent casually breaking Captain America's shield in two with his bare hands. Previous examples of its destruction have only occurred with universal scale reality warping.

Would Hurt a Child: Obviously given the grand scale carnage they bring about all the Worthy. Special mention does go to Greithoth (Absorbing Man) and Skirn (Titania) for deciding to head after Pym's Avengers Academy students after their battle in Dubai.

Everyone Kid!Loki faces is perfectly willing to kill him. (Most don't because he makes it so they would owe him, or because they know Thor will mess them up for hurting his little brother).

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